NY – Governor Wants To Charge Uber, Lyft Extra

In order to lower traffic numbers in the heavily congested area of Manhattan, New York Governor Cuomo is looking at the example of the British capital London (and other European cities), where a congestion charge is in place for anyone wishing to drive into the centre.

The idea being currently launched would include an $11 daily tax for anyone wishing to enter Manhattan, as well as a $2 to $5 dollar surcharge on top of the price of a taxi ride. Importantly, Mr Cuomo’s office also target’s for-hire vehicle services such as Uber and Lyft, which would see their prices rise in the operation.

According to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo such charges on “for-hire” vehicles such as Uber and Lyft would help to bring down what he calls the “massive, mind-numbing” traffic in Manhattan.

“That is one of the first places I would look to reduce congestion and to raise money. The for-hire vehicles, there’s real potential there.”

“If they want to cruise through the central business district to pick up fares, they should have to pay for it or we should limit the number.”

The ideas are states in a report produced by the governor’s panel entitled Fix NYC.

Any Manhattan trip below 60th Street would be affected as this is the area which Mr Cuomo claims has become “terrible, worse than gridlock.”

“We used to have yellow cabs. We now have yellow cabs and black cars and green cars and every colour in the rainbow.”

A representative for Uber, Ms Alix Anfang commented: “Uber commends the Fix NYC Advisory Panel for laying out a comprehensive set of recommendations to address congestion in Manhattan while funding the MTA. Uber supports comprehensive congestion pricing that is applied to all vehicles and dedicates money to mass transit.”

Mr Cuomo realizes that all these recommendations would require the installation of special equipment in order to monitor who enters and exits the zone in question, which he admits will take time and funds to install.

“We’ll have a long talk with the legislature, so no decision will be made quickly,” he concluded.